Misc. Recipes

Recently one of the guests at my B&B saw the Pampered Chef catalogs that I have in the office and commented on how much she likes Pampered Chef; she then asked if I had ever used any of the Demarle products and I told her that I had the Silpat made by Demarle but asked her to tell me about Demarle at Home. For those of you that are not familiar with the Silpat, they are a sheet of woven glass and food grade silicone that you use instead of parchment paper or greasing your cookie sheets. The glass aids in the browning and the silicone replaces having to grease your cookie sheets. I love it because nothing sticks to it and clean-up is a breeze.
She went on to tell me that they have expanded into direct sales and now carry many molds for baking and cooking that have the same properties as the Silpat - - so I went to their web-site (www.demarleathome.com) and checked it out. After reading quite a bit about it I asked for more information and a lady from Oregon called and we talked for about an hour and a half and I decided to sign-up to sell the product. Recently I received my kit and have been able to try a couple of the items in it. I mainly concentrated on breakfast dishes due to the B&B and the upcoming Quigley Shoot here in Forsyth. I thought I would share some of the recipes with you this week.

Banana Carrot Bread/Muffins

1 cup bananas
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup salad oil
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup finely grated carrots
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Combine bananas, sugar, oil and eggs in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes or 300 strokes by hand. Sift together flour, soda, salt and cinnamon. Fold into the banana mixture. Stir in carrots and pecans. Spoon into a greased and floured 9x5x2 3/4-inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Wrap and store overnight before cutting. 12 muffins or 1 loaf.
Editor’s Note: In making this recipe I found that a potato ricer made short work of mashing the bananas and when placing the batter in the muffin pan I used a 1/4 cup disher (ice cream scoop) and instead of greasing and flouring a muffin pan I used the Demarle Straight Muffin Tray placed on the Demarle Perforated Baking Sheet and only cooked them for about 35 minutes.
The next recipe that I am going to share is one that I found in a book written by Michael Ruhlman called “Ratio.” He talks about how if you use a scale and go by ratios your recipes will turn out more consistently. He also has an app for the iPod.
I have only tried one of his recipes but it was outstanding! It does take planning ahead but really doesn’t take that much actual time. I started the day before so I could see if I could have fresh biscuits for breakfast and it worked perfectly. These are the lightest, tastiest biscuits I have ever eaten.
I baked these on a Demarle Silpat placed on a Demarle Perforated Baking Sheet.

Chicago Biscuit (3-1-2 Biscuits)

(The 3-1-2 stands for the proportion of flour:fat:liquid)

9 oz. flour (a scant 2 cups)
2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
3 oz. chilled butter, diced
6 oz. milk
Set a mixing bowl on a scale ad pour in the flour. Add the baking powder (pressed through a strainer if it’s pebbly) and salt. Weigh out the butter. Rub and pinch the butter into the flour so that the butter is well distributed and in fragments and small chunks, the largest of which ware not bigger than peas. Pour in the milk and combine just until a dough is formed (you will see distinct whole chunks of butter in the dough). Form into a 4- by 6-inch rectangle, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least an hour.
Unwrap the dough and dust it with flour. Roll the dough out to about three times its size on a floured counter-top, board, or plastic wrap, (I used the Demarle Roul’Pat sprinkled with a very small amount of flour for this step so I didn’t have to incorporate any more flour into the dough and the dough would not stick to the counter.) Maintain the rectangular shape. Fold it into thirds and roll it out again (it will be more resistant and springy now).
Fold it in thirds again, press it down firmly, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour or until thoroughly chilled.
Repeat the procedure again. The dough is now ready to be rolled out to 1/2 inch thick and cut, or it can be folded in thirds, refrigerated, and rolled out again one more time for a total of six folds or turns. (Before I rolled it out to 1/2 inch thick I left it in the refrigerator overnight and rolled them out in the morning and baked them.)
Cut the dough into squares or, if you like, into rounds with a ring cutter or a thin glass. Bake at 400 degrees F until done, 20-30 minutes. (I found that when I cut them in squares the sides that were folded didn’t rise up as far so the next day I made another batch and cut them in the traditional round shape and they came up fairly evenly all the way around. The scraps that I had left-over I gathered together into an abstract shape and baked them that way. They turned out a little crisper then the rest but you could also take them out a little sooner. It didn’t really matter once I put the sausage gravy all over them!)

Editor’s Note: The following recipe I have made in the past using the 9x13-inch baking dish but I am anxious to try baking it in one of the Demarle Flexipan Trays so that I can have individual servings for each guest. I think the presentation would be a lot nicer.

Blueberry-Stuffed French Toast

12 slices homemade white bread - crust discarded, cut into 1-inch cubes
16 oz. Cream cheese - cut into 1-inch cubes
1 c. blueberries
12 eggs
1/3 c. maple syrup
2 c. milk
1 . Arrange half the bread cubes in a buttered 9xl3-inch glass baking dish.
2. Scatter the cream cheese over the bread and sprinkle the blueberries over the cream cheese.
3. Arrange remaining bread over the blueberries.
4. In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, syrup and milk.
5. Pour the egg mixture evenly over bread mixture, cover and refrigerate overnight.
6. Bake covered with foil, in the middle of preheated 350 F. oven for 30 minutes.
7. Remove foil and bake for another 30 minutes or until puffed and golden
8. Serve with Blueberry Sauce.

Blueberry Sauce

Best made fresh and served warm. Can be made several days earlier and refrigerated.
1 c. sugar
2 T. cornstarch
1 c. water
1 c. blueberries
1 T. unsalted butter
1. In a small saucepan stir together sugar, cornstarch and water.
2. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened.
3. Stir in blueberries and simmer, stirring occasionally, until berries burst.
4. Add butter and stir until butter is melted. Print this post